January 28, 2026
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has created a webpage to help people access preventative HIV medications like Truvada, a pre-exposure prophylaxis medication.
As part of its effort to prevent and treat HIV, Philadelphia has launched a new online tool to connect people with a range of sexual health and community resources.
"When we were doing a survey of the environment to see what was out there, we didn't find one single source of good information that had really everything that was on offer for HIV prevention and care in our communities," said Anna Thomas-Ferraioli, the advisor of the city's efforts to end the HIV epidemic.
The online tool – called the Philly Keep on Loving HIV Resource Finder – can be used to find Philadelphia Department of Public Health providers that offer HIV prevention and treatment, including HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP — a medicine to reduce the chance of getting HIV — and post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP, a medicine that prevents HIV after a possible exposure.
"These are really great tools that we want in the hands of anyone who can use them," Thomas-Ferraioli said.
The online tool – embedded in the health department's website for sexual wellness services – also helps connect people to resources addressing food and housing insecurity.
For people experiencing homelessness and others who may not have internet access, the online finder is available through many community groups, Thomas-Ferraioli said.
"We have great connections with a lot of service providers who provide housing and support services for people who are vulnerable, including people who use drugs in the city, and so we work closely with them," she said.
Creation of the online finder was funded as part of a $4 million federal grant to the city for HIV prevention and treatment. Some of the funding goes to community organizations that deliver HIV services to the city, Thomas-Ferraioli said.
HIV rates had been falling in Philadelphia through 2023 – with a new surveillance report due out soon, a health department spokesman said.
The most recently published report found there were 18,177 people with diagnosed HIV and more than 1,500 people estimated to be living with undiagnosed HIV or unaware of their status in 2023. That year there were 378 new HIV diagnoses, down slightly from 391 in 2022 – and down about 25% since 2017, when there were 509 new cases.
Increased connection to care, viral suppression and PrEP treatment helped reduce the spread of HIV, the report said.
HIV continued to disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic people. Men who have sex with men and injection drug users still carried the "largest burden" of the disease, the report said.
